As Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KO's) winds down the Philippine leg of his training camp, questions about his conditioning and preparedness arise. Pacquiao recently battled through heavy criticism after his anti-gay slur was made public a few weeks ago, causing him to lose his sponsorship deal with sports apparel giant Nike, and to fall out of grace with the general public.
The Filipino ring icon faces American welterweight Timothy "The Desert Storm" Bradley (31-1-1, 13 KO's) just under a month from now at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on April 9. He flies to Los Angeles with head trainer Freddie Roach this Saturday.
The eight-division world champion rose through the ranks with his signature, whirlwind style, captivating the hearts of boxing fans the world over. Each time he has stepped inside the ring, he looked for a knockout. Things changed however when Pacquiao made the move to welterweight -- a good one or two divisions above his optimal weight class.
Here, opponents either refused to go down, or Pacquiao let them off easy.
This rubber match with Bradley will mark Pacquiao's 11th bout in search of the knockout that which has eluded him, having not stopped an opponent since his 2009 domination of Miguel Cotto.
At 37 years old, Pacquiao is still a handful for nearly everyone in his division and below.
Bradley however has never been stopped in 35 professional fights despite being often rocked and even tasting canvas. He is the kind of fighter that always manages to dig deep and find a way to survive, either by skill or by pure grit and determination.
Bradley has recently employed legendary trainer Teddy Atlas, which has resulted in a reinvigorated fighter. Bradley has only lost once officially, and that was to Pacquiao in 2014 so the taste of defeat hasn't stayed with him long.
Having also fought Pacquiao twice before, Bradley has 24 rounds of knowledge on how to deal with the Filipino.
To say Pacquiao will be able to stop Bradley at this point in their careers is possible, but highly unlikely.
That's not to say Pacquiao is not capable of knocking out Bradley, which he most certainly is. Despite not having stopped an opponent in nearly seven years, Pacquiao remains a credible threat to win by knockout in each and every fight due to his trademark style.
Bradley's boxing skills and incredible chin make the possibility of a Pacquiao victory by knockout remote, but a possibility nonetheless.
If Pacquiao were able to knock out Bradley, it would certainly come out of left field. Fans have become used to Pacquiao taking his foot off the gas pedal when he thinks he has a fight won. He likes to cruise to victory when he doesn't sense his back is against the wall.
This became a problem in the Mayweather bout, where Pacquiao started to cruise in the late rounds thinking he was ahead of the scorecards.
As we all know, Mayweather won the bout eight rounds to four on most cards. But you get the sense that if Pacquiao had been on him all night, that it would have been a different story.
Bradley can achieve the same result if Pacquiao were to take him lightly. It's certainly not far-fetched to think Bradley is capable of decisioning Pacquiao.
A knockout of Bradley is undoubtedly a fitting way to send Pacquiao off into retirement, and would be ideal for the Filipino star. But can Pacquiao really do it?
He may have to, if he wants to avoid another controversial decision not go his way. For Pacquiao to redeem his career and his poor choice of Bradley as a final opponent, he'll have to take matters out of the judges' hands.
Pacquiao needs his last bout to end the way he began his ascent -- with a highlight reel stoppage.